World Builders

Dr. Viau's Prescriptions for

Painless Planet Building

If you follow these guidelines, you will avoid painful
problems in your planet building.

Always name your files and graphics
with upper case letters.

Actually, most web designers use lower
case letters. However, we will be using both Macintoshes and
Windows machines. When you transfer files to the Macintosh it
capitalizes the file names. For simplicity's sake, I ask you
all to use CAPITALS.

Why? Our files will go to a UNIX-based
computer. In UNIX, a capital A and a lower case a are read as completely different letters from
each other. Your files must have exactly the same names in your
html code as in the folders. Avoid pain! For this class, name
all your files with lower case letters.

Good
Examples:

SAM.HTML

FISH.HTML

SEPT.HTM

MARIA.GIF

HOUSE.JPG

No!
No! No! Do not do this!

Sam.html

fish.HTML

sEpt.Html

joeT.html

Maria.GIF

Dad.gif

All members of your group must end text files
the same way with either .html or .htm

Why? The Windows system allows only
eight letters in the name and three letters in the suffix. If
you haveWindows users in your group, they will have to abide
by these limitations. All the files will have to work together.
All of you in each group should use the same format. This will
save hours of work.

Good
Examples:

These work with IBM and Macintosh files
:

SAM.HTM

FISH.HTM

OCEAN.HTM

MARIA.GIF

DAD.JPG

No!
No! No!

These will not work with IBM systems:

ambulance.html

volcanoexploding.htm

SHEEP.HTML

mycatjoey.gif

sunset.jpeg

When Windows files are emailed
to Macintoshes, the computer often changes the suffixes to capital
letters. Macintosh users can fix this quickly with a program
called

Why? The name of this game is communication! Download
and use HTML ColorChooser
(see Toolkit page) to check how the colors of your text look
on the background that you have chosen. Be kind to your readers!

Always spell check your html pages.

Why? Poor spelling and typos detract from your pages (and
your grades). Use a spelling checker to check your pages. Have
another member of your group read your pages to check for left
out words and other problems.

Use Big Brother to check your links.

Why? Your planet
will be all together in one folder. Inside the folder will be
all your .html files and another folder with your graphics. On
your introductory page there will be a link going back out to
the World Builder's Home page -- ../index.html. The rest of your
files will link to one another inside the folder.

The name of
your image folder should have some reference to your planet name,
for example: earthgif, marsgif, jupgif. Keep the name at eight
characters or less if your group includes Windows computers.
When you call your graphics your code will read:

img src="marsgif/rocks.gif"
or

img src="jupgif/rings.gif.

The part before the slash tells which folder the image file
ending in .gif is in.

Here is a diagram of a planet folder. This folder is for
Mars. Notice that all the text files (which end in .html) are
inside the folder which is the red space. Also in the folder
is another folder which holds the graphics. The graphic files
end in .gif or .jpg.

When a text file needs a graphic it calls it from
the image folder. First it names the folder, then the file.

img src="marsgifs/mplanet.gif"

Put the first initial of your planet at the
beginning of every text and every image file.

Why?
We will be uploading and downloading files to the big server
in class. Sometimes files get separated from each other, or uploaded
into the wrong folder. Sometimes a student revises a file and
gives Dr Viau just one file to upload. Now think about this.
Each planet will have at least 15 text files and probably more
image files than that -- say fifty files all together (although
some planets have over 100 files). Suppose that we have five
planets under construction. 5 * 100 = 500. Now imagine what happens
when we apply Murphy's Law --

Your cooperation is appreciated!

</§BLOCKQUOTE>

Decide as a group what you will call your basic
files.

Why?
Because you will be linking the files together and that can only
work if you know the name of the file to link to. Decide today
what those files will be called. Here is an example for you.
I have listed two possible naming schemes, one for Mars (using
Windows file names) and one for Earth (using Macintosh file names).
You are not required to follow this example, but you must decide
on names for these basic text files. Be smart! Decide today!

You can print out
a form for this from the

File
Name Page. Each person in the group
should have a copy of the form. Here is an example for you.

Chapter Number

Chapter is about

Names for Mars

Names for Earth

Introduction

Planet's Home Page

mhome.htm

ehome

Table of Contents

Contents Page

mcontent.htm

econtent.html

1

Solar System

m1.htm

esolar.html

2

Geology

m2.htm

egeology.html

3

Weather

m3.htm

eweather.html

4

Microbiology

m4.htm

emicro.html

5

Water Plants

m5.htm

ewplants.html

6

Water Animals

m6.htm

ewpets.html

7

Water Ecology

m7.htm

ewecol.html

8

Land Plants

m8.htm

elplants.html

9

Land Animals

m9.htm

elpets.html

10

Land Ecology

m10.htm

elecol.html

Student Page

Linda's Home Page

mlinda.htm

elinda.html

Student Page

Jose's Home Page

mjose.htm

ejose.html

Student Page

Maria's Home Page

mmaria.htm

emaria.html

Don't be the Lone Ranger.

Why?
This really is a group project. The individual pages don't make
much sense unless the group has talked about everything. There
is much too much work for anyone to do this project alone
in the time available.

Some people prefer
to work alone. (Don't worry, you will be evaluated on the pages
that you have done: however, they should be a harmonious part
of the whole planet project.) However, this course is coming
out of a School of Education, and, when you do planet building
in your own classroom, you will see that this method presents
many opportunities for the development of communication and group
process skills. Think about this no matter what your preferred
work style: would this work with your students? If you prefer
to work alone, you will gain insight into what this experience
will be like for those of your students who have a work style
similar to your own.

The groups that
have worked most closely together have turned out the best planets
-- and they have had the most fun! Brainstorming produces many
ideas, and each person has unique talents. Enjoy this course,
and enjoy the people who work with you.